ENTREP S20
Prof. Jorge Saguinsin
FACTORS PAPER - KMT
What does it really take to
be an entrepreneur? And how come I have interests on it? Even I have been wondering
on how I came to be interested in entrepreneurship.
I grew up with a family that
has a mindset of employees and building careers in the corporate ladder. My
father is an engineer and my mother is an accountant. Since I was a child, I
looked them up as my heroes, my role models, thinking that someday I will be
like them. I took up engineering mostly
because of my father’s influence on me. I have never thought that my interests
could also lean on to entrepreneurship, until I learned as I grew up that
businesses are owned by these entrepreneurs, and that the world is driven by
the different established enterprises. Further, I had a deeper appreciation of it
when my father and mother had decided to venture to start their own businesses.
Never did I think before that my parents possess entrepreneurial mindsets. They
have tried to venture into different businesses and involved us as well in the
conceptualization and operations of those. Most of those businesses had a good
start. However, we really had difficulty of sustaining it, especially on
managing the employees so most of the first business ventures of my parents had
to be stopped before accumulating bigger losses. We just had to accept that those
kinds of businesses are not for us yet. It
was frustrating as most of us had involved ourselves in it doing hard work. But
still, I noticed that my parents, especially my mother would always know how to
stand up again and continue to find new business opportunities she could
venture into. Recently, we started to venture into real estate business and
surprisingly, we are managing to sustain and expand it and make it profit.
Perhaps, my mother found out that her passion is in the real estate business.
Going back to the question
on the factors to be a successful entrepreneur, I made a research on it and
found the following factors/characteristics:
Factors to be a
Successful Entrepreneur
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Self-Assessment
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1. They are self-motivated
Successful
entrepreneurs do not need someone who holds them accountable or forces them
to be efficient and productive. Unfortunately, without a manager, many people
cannot take their business past the planning stages. It takes hard work to
create your own business; most people need someone who forces them to keep
working. Moreover, when people do not have someone to hold them accountable,
they may let their work’s quality suffer. For example, many freelance writers
set their own hours and choose their workload. However, for this same reason,
many freelance writers do not work how they ought to work.
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I
must admit that there would be times that I am too stubborn to immediately do
the tasks given to me in school. And perhaps it’s because I lack the motivation
to do so. I always find myself delaying doing those tasks/assignments because
of the thought that I cannot really find enough reasons on why I should do
those things and think that it is just being given to us just for the sake of
doing it and having grades. But I know myself. When I want something and I
find it reasonable to do things, I have the full motivation to make it a
success. I may be stubborn to do things that someone requires me to do, but
when it comes to things that I want and I am passionate about, I am very
motivated to the point that I would always want the best output I could do.
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2. They are creative
When
creating a business idea, many entrepreneurs have to be very creative. There
is a good chance that someone else has already established himself as the
authority for the niche that a new entrepreneur chooses. However, with a
little creative twist, new entrepreneurs can take old ideas or business
models and revolutionize them, making them attractive to potential clients or
customers.
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I
believe I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur when it comes to
creativity. I may not be an artist but I could really be creative when it
comes to generating and developing ideas, and even things.
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3. They are intuitive
Entrepreneurs
do not become successful due to luck. Every successful entrepreneur created
his own path with his intelligence, creativity and intuition. Business models
are constantly changing. Consequently, the way business owners market and
grow their business constantly changes. The most successful entrepreneurs
understand how fast current trends change. More importantly, however, they
know how to keep up with the changes.
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I
could really not site on how I am intuitive as a person but I believe I have
used my intuition on every decision I make in my life and even in helping out
other people to decide. I usually decide based on reasons and facts, but when
there facts and reasons cannot be considered and immediate decision making is
required, I just decide based on what I feel and believe is right, and I make
a stand for it. I remember an instance
that I just purely used my intuition to persuade my mother to immediately buy
a certain lot out of concern that someone might be already eyeing as well
that lot wherein if we are not able to buy that lot, it would hinder our real
estate development to expand. We did not know if there really is someone who
was eyeing to buy that lot but it was a good decision as we felt that
business expansion in that aspect is secured.
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4. They are authoritative
If you
were to open your own business, you would learn very quickly that there are
many people with whom you need to network. However, not everyone has your
best interest in mind. You may encounter naysayers, manipulators and
scammers. Therefore, you must not allow yourself to be easily influenced; you
must be authoritative. Though there is nothing wrong with taking advice or
opinions, in the end, you must make decisions that you strongly believe will
better your company.
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I
have been raised in a very family-oriented environment. Meaning, we have
close relationship as a family and we really value the importance of family,
to the point that each of us are very protective of our family. We were
trained to be polite and be respectful to other people we meet but we are
also trained not to be too trusting in order to protect ourselves and the
family as well. With it, we were raised to make our own decisions based on the
reasons we find and not from other people’s influence. Perhaps I can say that
I am also authoritative in nature.
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5. They are strong-willed
Successful entrepreneurs started their business with a vision - a
dream. They acted on their dream by taking small steps towards accomplishing
their goals. With every step, entrepreneurs get closer to attaining their
ultimate goal or vision. However, not all steps are easy to take.
Unfortunately, nothing worth fighting for is easy to attain. Successful
entrepreneurs only made it past the difficult times by being strong-willed.
They never let pessimism, difficulty or any other problems stand in their
way.
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Perhaps this factor/trait is the most
evident in me. We were raised to be optimists and strong-willed. Our parents
were really good motivators in terms of helping us achieve our goals. They believed
in us, and we believed in ourselves that we could achieve and be successful
in whatever path we take and decisions we make. We were thought to always
look at the bright side if there are bad things happening. Further, we are a
witness to our parents that they were very strong-willed and resilient
despite of the challenges we have been through just to provide for our family
and to develop ourselves, their children.
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I believe that my interest
on being an entrepreneur can be traced to the influence of my parents, through their
hard work and the values and vision they shared to us. And for the factors to
be a successful entrepreneur, I believe I have what it takes but just that I feel I still
should further improve on myself on these factors as I start to venture into
entrepreneurship. 3
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